by Pete Denk

The American Graded Stakes Committee upgraded three races to Grade 1 status for 2008 but did not act on Breeders’ Cup Ltd.’s request to assign Grade 1 ratings to the three new Breeders’ Cup races at its annual grading session in Lexington on Tuesday.

Breeders’ Cup requested the committee grant Grade 1 status to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, each of which were run for the first time in 2007. However, Breeders’ Cup Chairman Bill Farish asked the committee to table that request on Tuesday, according to a press release.

Farish could not be immediately reached for comment.

The three new Grade 1 races are the Maker’s Mark Mile and First Lady Stakes, both at Keeneland Race Course, and the Just a Game Stakes at Belmont Park. The Maker’s Mark is a one-mile grass race for four-year-olds and up. The most recent three winners of the race—Artie Schiller (2005), Miesque’s Approval (‘06), and Kip Deville (‘07)—won the Netjets Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) the same year.

Both the First Lady and Just a Game are one-mile turf races for fillies and mares.

The committee assigned graded status to 481 races in 2008, seven more than in 2007. There are now 110 Grade 1 races, and all races that carried Grade 1 status this year retained their rating.

The two-year-old turf division, which previously had no graded races in America leading into the Breeders' Cup, gained three Grade 3 races—the Miss Grillo and Pilgrim Stake, both at Belmont Park, and the Woodford Reserve Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland.

Pete Denk is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer

Upgraded to Grade 1
Maker’s Mark Mile S., Keeneland
First Lady S., Keeneland
Just a Game S., Belmont

Upgraded to Grade 2
Rebel S., Oaklawn Park
Fifth Third Elkhorn S., Keeneland
Indiana Oaks, Hoosier
Lake George S., Saratoga
Sands Point S., Belmont
Providencia S., Santa Anita
Old Hat S., Gulfstream

Upgraded to Grade 3
Woodford Reserve Bourbon S., Keeneland
Bryan Station S., Keenland
Appalachian S., Keeneland
Pilgrim S., Belmont
Miss Grillo S., Belmont
Southwest S. Oaklawn
Honeybee S., Oaklawn
Obeah H., Delaware
Robert G. Dick Memorial Breeders’ Cup H., Delaware
Florida Oaks, Tampa
Endeavour S., Tampa
La Habra S., Santa Anita
Tuzla H., Santa Anita Park
Commonwealth Turf S., Churchill
Colonel E.R. Bradley H., Fair Grounds
Boyd Gaming Delta Princess S., Delta Downs
Harold C. Ramser Sr. H., Oak Tree at Santa Anita
Virginia Oaks, Colonial Downs

Downgraded to Grade 2
None

Downgraded to Grade 3
San Rafael S., Santa Anita
Washington Park H., Arlington
Nassau County Breeders’ Cup S., Belmont

Downgraded to ungraded
Arlington Classic S., Arlington
Essex H., Oaklawn
Aqueduct H., Aqueduct
Bay Meadows Breeders’ Cup H., Bay Meadows
Bayou Breeders’ Cup H., Fair Grounds.

Former Grade 2 races ineligible for grade in 2008
Belmont Breeders’ Cup H., Belmont
Genuine Risk H., Belmont
Saratoga Breeders’ Cup H., Saratoga

Former Grade 3 races ineligible for grade in 2008
Valley Stream S., Aqueduct
Astarita S., Belmont
Floral Park H., Belmont